


Clandestine Torment

by bunnybrook



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Pre-Organization XIII (Kingdom Hearts), Science Experiments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 05:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13874073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnybrook/pseuds/bunnybrook
Summary: How Isa and Lea lost their hearts.





	Clandestine Torment

Isa saw Even spit while he screamed at Xehanort, blinded by his own rage and betrayal. The saliva landed on Xehanort's lab coat. Behind Even, Ienzo struggled with a keypad, trying to type faster than the program failed. Braig watched with his arms crossed. The room itself radiated something, some heat, some sweet smell like boiling fruit for syrups. Something disgusting that made it feel like Isa's skin was crawling. Lea leaned onto him, almost knocking him over.

"Cut it out," Isa hissed.

Lea shushed him and pressed his ear to the door. He was wearing a shit eating grin, like he thought this was just a game. Isa stood on his toes, trying to see over Lea's head. Not too hard. He was scared. He wanted to go home. It wasn't much fun to sneak into the castle anymore. He was too old for it, he was waiting for the day Dilan and Aeleus decided they were adult enough to take the beating they deserved.

Isa tugged on Lea's shoulder. He whispered, "I don't like this."

"I want to see what happens," Lea insisted.

Something sparked. Ienzo was thrown back from the monitor onto the floor where he lay still, dazed. The screen went black momentarily, then flashed back on. Indecipherable binary code scrolled endlessly on it. Isa put a hand over his mouth to hide a gasp.

Even was too shocked to continue cussing Xehanort out. He looked between Ienzo, who hadn't gotten up, Xehanort, who was staring at his own hands as if they were something foreign attached to his body, and Braig, whose eyes had widened with fear.

"We should leave," Isa said, tugging again on Lea's arm.

"If you want to go so bad, then go," Lea said. He shoved Isa off of him and continued to look inside. Ienzo hadn't gotten up.

"Not without you," Isa said. "Something bad is happening. We have to leave."

Lea waved him off.

"Something bad is happening," Isa repeated.

"Well what is it?"

Isa froze. "What?"

"If you can't tell me what's happening, I want to stick around and see what is is," Lea explained, as if that made perfect sense.

"You're a piece of shit," Isa said. He didn't leave Lea's side.

Even's rage was tangible, radiating off of him in sickening waves. Isa had the feeling of a cat being rubbed the wrong way, bare hands on untreated and splintered wood, the revulsion of unknowingly eating rotten food. Even reached for the keyboard and shocked his hand, bringing it back smoking. He was still speaking but quiet, more to himself now.

Isa was stuck. Without thinking, he had stepped back until he could barely see inside the lab. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to go home. But he had told Lea over and over that life would be nothing without him, this was a test of their love. Isa could never betray Lea like that. He breathed deeply.

Inside, Even collapsed next to Ienzo.

"Holy shit," Lea whispered.

Isa hesitantly leaned forward. "What happened?"

"Look," Lea said. He took Isa's hand and made room for him.

Xehanort was holding a keyblade. A heavy thing that glowed strangely. He turned to Braig. Isa only had a moment to think, he tightened his grip on Lea's hand. The keyblade went smoothly into Braig's chest while he choked on his pain. Before Braig hit the ground, Isa turned on his heels and started sprinting down the hall. He stopped momentarily to make sure Lea was following. He was a few feet behind. Isa turned to Lea who, as he approached, slowed to a stop.

"Are you okay?" Isa asked. A cold breeze tickled the back of his neck.

Lea's eyes were wide with shock and his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He held a hand up and pointed, shaking. He mouthed something quiet, unable to get the words out. Isa heard footsteps behind him. He turned and stumbled back onto Lea. Xehanort stepped out of the shadows.

This wasn't Xehanort. Isa was familiar with the apprentice, he was cute and bashful and kept his distance. He worked hard and had made a nice home in Radiant Garden. He didn't like speaking much and he was a bit weird but no one could say that was abnormal for him. He had amnesia.

Or he had hit his head. Or something. Now, he looked beastly.

"Your meddling has volunteered you to be involved in something much greater than yourselves," he said. His delivery was flat but Isa could tell he was mocking them. Xehanort grabbed for Isa's throat, impossibly quick. There was no way Isa could have gotten away. Xehanort glared at Lea. He said, "Stay and watch your friend face his fate."

Isa couldn't help but blame Lea. If Lea had let him leave, if Lea wasn't a stubborn asshole then they could have gotten out of the castle and gone for help. Maybe Dilan and Aeleus. Maybe someone from town. But Isa rejected the idea. Lea was an idiot. He couldn't have known this would happen. And Lea wasn't the one holding the keyblade.

What did he said his name was?

Isa was lifted off the ground, until his toes barely touched the carpet and he struggled to breathe. He could hear himself choking and, despite the whole situation, he felt embarrassed that he was making such disgusting noises. He always thought his death would be stoic. He never thought he would really die.

Isa felt something like ice press against his chest, so cold it was as if it was on his bare skin instead of through two layers of fabric. He looked down to see the same keyblade that had brought down Braig. The tip of it had phased through his skin. It was in his chest.

"I'm sorry!" Lea shouted. "Don't hurt him, please. I'm sorry, this was my idea, we won't tell anyone, I'm sorry, let him go! _Please_!"

Ansem.

It was Ansem.

Isa made eye contact and nothing human looked back at him. The keyblade sunk farther into his chest. He couldn't help the way his body writhed and kicked as he tried to avoid the agony the keyblade brought. He was a body running on instinct, almost no consciousness left in him. He saw stars.

"Stop," Lea begged. "Let him go." Isa had never heard him sound so afraid.

Ansem plunged the keyblade into Isa until it hit something hard and stopped. Isa could feel the intrusion in his throat, everything inside of him rearranged to accommodate the solid keyblade violating not only his body but straight through him, into the deepest parts of his soul that shouldn't be accessible to anyone outside.

Lea screamed. Ansem pushed him aside easily when he tried to interfere. Whatever the keyblade had been set out to do had been done. Isa knew he would never be the same. If he made it out of this. If.

When Ansem removed the keyblade, he took everything with it. He tossed Isa to the side and he saw, briefly, the glow of something incomprehensible, something he knew belonged to him. His knees made a sickening crunch noise when he fell. His arms couldn't keep him up. The seconds he lay motionless on the floor were like an eternity while he relearned himself.

The red carpet stretched on forever in his vision. He felt like only an outline, a white chalk shape to indicate a dead body. Implied, but no substance. Nothing but the imaginings of the worst possible situation that could have occurred. Maybe this was the worst outcome. Maybe he should have left earlier.

Isa could only cough and reach out weakly while Ansem stabbed his keyblade through Lea the same way he had done to Isa. Quicker, there was less pain. But Lea was crying and his chest had been shaking with sobs while the keyblade stole what was his. That must have hurt. At least he fell slowly, clinging to Ansem to stop himself from getting hurt anymore. Ansem shook him off and dismissed the keyblade.

He muttered something like, "I'll come back for you later," then walked past the two bodies out into the rest of the castle.

If this was dying, it wasn't that bad. Isa didn't feel afraid anymore, which was the biggest relief. He didn't feel sad either. And he didn't really care that Lea was probably dead, not even ten feet from Isa. He felt full of hot air. He felt like he was falling asleep.

When Isa closed his eyes, he made the decision to do so. He told himself, I'm going to die now, and breathed all the air out of his body to help with the process. And the boys looked small while they lay in the castle, their bodies shocked, their insides broken. Maybe not Ansem, but someone would be back for them soon.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write this for like... over a year probably. I'm incredibly proud of it too. Mostly going off one of the cutscenes in DDD and a lot of headcanons. I genuinely don't know if I got it right with Xehanort/Ansem's name so instead of commenting about it just find me and punch me in the face IRL please and thank you. And, last thing, I just sort of randomly generated two nice sounding words that generally have to do with the feelings of the fic. Woops.
> 
> Anyway! Obligatory mention that I am still alive and writing because of comments I get from my fic so I really appreciate it. Thank you!


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